Through 40 regular season games, the Tavistock Braves were like a playground bully asserting themselves as the alpha of the Provincial Junior Hockey League’s Doherty Division.

The defending division champions pushed opposing teams around and won 32 times – second most in franchise history – while leading wire to wire and rarely getting tested. It continued in the playoffs with a four-game sweep of Delhi.

That changed in the second round, as the Paris Mounties fought back and took the top seeded Braves to seven games.

Tavistock prevailed – not without absorbing some body blows – and will face Wellesley in the Doherty Division final starting Wednesday at home.

“Regular season and first round there wasn’t a great deal of adversity,” Braves head coach Dan Kalbfleisch said. “For your group to be able to dig in and show they can get the job done in a tough playoff situation is very satisfying for us moving forward.”

Now the Braves’ toughest task is pushing reset and preparing for an Applejacks squad that eliminated second-place New Hamburg in six games.

“The reality is you’re playing a different team and it’s a new series and you’ve gotta be prepared for that challenge,” Kalbfleisch said.

Wellesley boasts one-two punch Alex Uttley and Shaun Pickering. The duo averaged at least two points per game in the regular season and are leading the way through 10 playoff games.

“Offensively they’ve got the talent,” Kalbfleisch said. “They’ve got a lot of players who played at higher levels and have come down to their team. That poses a challenge in the playoffs and is something we have to be prepared for.”

The Braves’ biggest downfall against Paris was their special teams. Tavistock’s power play (10.3 per cent) and penalty kill (76.5 per cent) both fell well short of their numbers in the regular season.

“Any time you get in a series with a team they’re obviously able to focus a little more on special teams, so credit to Paris,” Kalbfleisch said. “They did a good job, especially early in the series. I felt as the series went on we were able to get more consistent with our approach and execution. We had two power play goals in Game 7 (a 5-3 win). In games four through seven we limited their power play compared to the first three.”

For the Braves, Cole Corriveau, Josh Helgerman, Mackinnon Hawkins, Drew Gerth, Josh Borys, Jake Wiffen, Zac Berg and Justin Labrie are all averaging at least a point per game, though much of that was built up against the Travellers.

Ryan Donat had seven points in the first round before suffering a broken collarbone that ended his season in Game 1 against Paris. Tanner Johnson was injured in Game 2 but could be back for the opener against Wellesley. Ben Wiffen returned in Game 6.

“I think we’re extremely happy to go through that (grind) and come out on the right side of it,” Kalbfleisch said. “With injuries … we have some younger players playing important positions for us, and to gain that experience on the fly is invaluable going forward.”